Author Notes: This will probably mark one of the smallest if not the smallest gap in updates for this story. I plan on wrapping this story up, and I'm doing what I can to complete it soon. Hopefully, my efforts will result in quicker updates until we reach the end.

In the previous chapter, Velvet freed Eleanor and Magilou from their 'Earth Pulse' like memory dreams. They know where they need to go, and what they need to do. They don't know what to expect or if it will work, but they know they have to do something. Otherwise this situation will keep repeating until someone else gets caught up as well.

I hope you will enjoy this chapter and please provide feedback.

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Sorrowful Peace

Chapter Seven: Trust and Loyalty

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We are not the same

We have been through many trials

We have changed a lot

/

It was in the middle of the day, but there were clouds beginning to gather overhead. Despite the increasingly ominous atmosphere above, the former Exorcist, Eleanor Hume, was riding in the woods on the outskirts of Aball on horseback with the self-proclaimed witch, Magilou, sitting behind her. They were slowly making their way back to the ruins they were investigating the day before. However, they had a different strategy in mind for what they were going to do.

As they slowly made their way through the woods, Magilou decided to ask, "Are you sure it was a good idea to bring your horse with us?"

"No, I don't," Eleanor admitted before then justifying, "but I don't know how long this will take, and I'd rather not leave her tied up at Velvet's house forever." Eleanor held onto the reigns with one hand and stroked the horse's hair with the other as she said, "I was worried about her when we left her behind the first time. After last night, I'd be especially worried leaving her alone again."

Neigh!

Eleanor looked down at the horse that apparently was responding to her reasoning. Bienfu then materialized next to Eleanor and told her, "I think your horse appreciates it."

Eleanor asked, "Can you understand her, Bienfu?"

Bienfu shrugged his shoulders, "More or less."

"Hmph …" Eleanor looked back at the horse and stated, "Well I'm glad it makes you feel better."

Neigh!

"I guess we can't argue with the horse." Magilou mused.

"Anyway," Eleanor peaked over her shoulder and said, "I'm kinda surprised you asked to ride behind me, Magilou."

"What did you expect?" Magilou put her hand on her chest as she asked, "Did you want a fair maiden such as I to walk around in the dirt while you ride on the horse like a gallant knight in shining armor?"

"Wow …" Eleanor remarked in a deadpan tone, "You really like painting a picture don't you?"

"It's just how she is." Bienfu replied.

"Are you saying you wouldn't have offered me a ride?" Magilou asked, "Am I that annoying?"

"I'm not saying that, but it doesn't seem very 'Magilou' of you." Eleanor remarked, "You always like to do things outside the norm or try to shame people. You just asked if you could ride with me like a normal person would."

"Indeed." Bienfu began to say, "Miss. Magilou always …" Bienfu was then promptly put in his place by Magilou poking his cheek, "Bieeen!"

Magilou stated in an annoyed tone, "Be quiet!"

"Bieeen!" Bienfu cried out again.

Eleanor sighed as she shook her head in silence. She then looked again and said, "We're almost there. We're going to set up camp, so we might as well get off."

"Okay." Magilou jumped off the horse with Bienfu floating next to her.

After Eleanor got off the horse, she then began to walk the horse toward a tree before the horse became spooked. It was sudden, and Eleanor was forced to tightly grip the reins with all her strength. Eleanor knew that if she let go the horse would run off into the forest.

"Woah there! Calm down girl!" Eleanor glanced to see they were pretty close to the ruins before she then told the horse, "It's okay girl. The monster in the ruins won't be coming back."

Magilou crossed her arms as she commented, "I don't think that's what has her spooked."

Eleanor looked over her shoulder and realized, "Oh ..."

"Need some help?" Magilou offered.

Eleanor maintained her grip on the reigns as she replied, "I got this." Eleanor faced the horse again and did her best to assure her companion, "Don't worry girl." When the horse appeared to be calming down, Eleanor pet the horse's head while quietly assuring the horse in a calm voice, "We'll take care of the Daemon. Everything is going to be okay. I promise."

After a few moments, the horse calmed down a little, and she was cooperative with Eleanor again. Eleanor was then able to tie the horse to a tree and pull out supplies from one of the pouches the horse was carrying. It included a tent.

"Hmph." Magilou remarked, "So you actually had your own camping supplies?"

As Eleanor laid out the camping supplies she answered, "Traveling as much as I have taught me a couple of things. There aren't always going to be Inns nor homes willing to offer you hospitality. You've got to be ready to spend at least one night on the ground."

"You know." Magilou remarked, "You're not the only one here. Aren't you going to ask for help?"

Eleanor looked up and asked, "You're seriously offering to help?"

"You really think I'd joke about that?" Magilou almost seemed offended as she pointed out, "I can be a freeloader sometimes, but sometimes I might be willing to offer a hand."

"Um sorry …" Eleanor sheepishly asked, "Do you mind helping me?"

"Since you asked nicely, I'll help you this time. I might as well anyway." Magilou's grin returned as she began helping Eleanor set up camp." Magilou then asked, "So can you do that whole rub two sticks together to make a fire technique?"

"Um …" Eleanor felt sheepish as she replied, "Isn't that what artes are for?"

Magilou cheekily grinned as she playfully replied, "You'll be using an arte to create a camp fire? For shame!"

"Like you're one to talk." Eleanor shook her head before looking up to the sky when she heard some birds. Eleanor watched the birds fly away. Her eyes remained locked on them until they were out of sight.

"Yo!" Magilou's voice brought Eleanor out of her train of thought. "Eastgand to Eleanor. Are you still with us?"

Rather than answering Magilou's question, Eleanor asked, "Magilou … Do you think Velvet was right about the birds?"

"Hmm?" Magilou tilted her head in puzzlement.

Eleanor glanced to Magilou and clarified her question, "Remember before the final battle, Velvet gave Artorius her answer to her question about why do birds fly."

Magilou smiled. "Oh, yes. How could I forget?" Magilou did her best to emulate Velvet's voice as she said, "'They fly because they want to'. Ha! The look on Artorius face was priceless."

Eleanor replied, "Velvet's answer did take him by surprise."

"She certainly had that ability." Magilou commented, "Even the Empyreans seemed surprised by how she sealed Innominat and the price she was willing to pay to pull it off. Hell. Even I was impressed."

"Yes …" Eleanor looked down as she lamented, "Yes that's true. She was impressive, but you're not answering my question."

"Hmm …" Magilou seemed to consider what to say before answering, "To be honest, I don't believe that question actually has a right answer. Chances are Artorius used that question as a means to weed people out."

"Weed them …" Eleanor put her hand on her chin as she thought back when Artorius asked her the same question, "Yes that does make sense. He'd want to know who'd come up with an answer similar to his, so he'd know if they'd probably think like him."

Magilou snapped her fingers. "Exactly. He wanted like-minded people in his group, so he'd be able to proceed with his more 'questionable actions' without getting any resistance from other people on his side. Only those like-minded people had any idea of that Innominat Suppression plan or the existence of the Therions."

Eleanor concluded, "Then he weeded me out, too."

Magilou mused, "Probably for the best. I'm sure you wouldn't have wanted to be part of his inner circle, especially after how they ended up."

"Yeah …" Eleanor admitted, "I'd be long dead if it wasn't for Velvet and Laphicet."

"If you really want my opinion," Magilou looked up a she stated, "I think in some ways, Velvet was right. Those birds do seem to be enjoy themselves up there don't you think?"

Eleanor looked up to the sky in time to see a few more birds flying overhead as she remarked, "I do. I really do."

/

As the day waned, Magilou and Eleanor maintained a watch on the ruins to see if there has been any changes. There had not been any over the past few hours, but they weren't expecting much during the day. Instead, they decided to do their best to rest during the daylight hours.

Magilou decided to ask, "By the way Eleanor, I saw how you reacted to seeing Velvet's blood on that stone. Did seeing Velvet's blood stains really traumatize you that much?"

"… Not exactly," Eleanor uneasily replied, "but it was a reminder … A reminder to how this all started. So much happened because of what happened the day Velvet's own family betrayed her."

"…" Magilou didn't say a word.

"She told me what happened." Eleanor scratched the back of her head as she stated, "We saw parts of what happened in those fractured memories, but I never saw physical proof or anything like that … Hearing and knowing that it happened was one thing … seeing that blood just I don't know … I just …" Eleanor put her hands on her chest as she continued, "it just hurt. A lot of things just came rushing to me. I don't really know how I can describe it."

Magilou mused, "That was descriptive enough."

Bienfu showed himself again as he replied, "I'll say. Madam Eleanor, what you're going through is perfectly natural. As someone whose lived this long, I've seen my fair share of humans who reacted like you did."

"…" Magilou remained silent.

Bienfu continued his statement as he solemnly stated, "Sure circumstances differed greatly, but the reactions were similar. Hurt, loss, loneness. Everyone feels the same way."

Eleanor somberly agreed, "Yes …"

Bienfu advised, "So you don't have to keep it bottled up Madman Eleanor. Acting like this doesn't make you any weaker than anyone else."

Magilou crossed her arms as she said, "If it helps I won't make fun of you for it."

Eleanor could only bring herself to say, "Um ... Thanks … I guess …"

Bienfu cleared his throat and said, "Anyway, you should just let me …"

"Bienfu." The sound of Magilou's voice caused Bienfu to pause in midsentence and slowly look behind him. Magilou then gave her own advice, "You had a good moment. Try not to ruin it."

"Bieen … All right." Bienfu retreated much to his dismay.

Magilou stated, "Despite that, Bienfu does make a valid point. However, I can tell that you still have more than a few regrets about how things were with Velvet."

"Not after we became …" Eleanor solemnly stated, "I'll always regret about what happened before … Velvet may have forgiven me, but I still have mixed feelings about that."

"Ah, yes." Magilou stated, "I remember those times you'd keep calling Velvet 'Daemon' among other things. I remember she was actually hurt when you more or less called her 'Darkness Incarnate.'"

"Ugh" Eleanor groaned as she put her hand on her head, "… I still remember that … That was a real low for me …"

Magilou shrugged her shoulders as she commented, "Well you know what they say. When you hit rock bottom, the only place to go is up, and you certainly did go up from then on after the whole Kamoana incident."

"…" Eleanor did not say a word.

"Anyway, despite all of that," Magilou's voice sounded 'sincere' as she told Eleanor, "Velvet never hated you. Not once. Not even when you were an enemy on the Abbey's side."

"I …" Eleanor didn't know what to say in response.

"The fact is," Magilou cheekily pointed out, "Even when you were enemies, she never tried to kill or maim you like the others."

"Um … yeah … I'm honored …" Eleanor awkwardly replied.

"But seriously," Magilou's toned changed as she advised Eleanor, "you don't have a duty to live for someone else."

"Huh?" Eleanor was taken aback.

Magilou continued to sound serious as she repeated herself, "No one has a duty to live for someone else. You don't have a 'duty' to live for Velvet or your mom. You only have a duty to live for yourself. I'm sure Velvet would agree with me.

"…" Eleanor remained silent.

Magilou tilted her head, "Too much for you?"

Eleanor shot back, "So like you don't have duty to live for Melchior?"

"…" This time Magilou was stunned.

Eleanor eased up as she said, "… I'm sorry. I didn't."

Magilou sighed, "You're right. I don't have a 'duty' to live for Melchior. I'll remember him for who he was and that's it."

"…" Eleanor did not have much to say in response.

Magilou stated, "I'm not gonna tell you how to live your life, but maybe you'd be up for some advice."

Eleanor asked, "More sage advice?"

"I'm willing to 'donate' this much." Magilou then stated, "Velvet wouldn't want you mourning for her forever just like I'm sure your mother wouldn't want you to become a nun to live the rest of your life mourning for her."

"…" Eleanor found herself incapable of refuting.

Magilou motioned to the world around them when she opened her arms up, "This peace … It is temporary, but this is the most peaceful I've seen this world in a long time. Maybe ever. Before we fought Shigure and Melchior, didn't you more or less say you were thinking about the future?"

"How did you …?" Eleanor began to ask.

"Doesn't matter!" Magilou interrupted before continuing with her previous point. "You were talking about wanting to do some good in the future. Well it's time for you to begin revisiting that line of thought. Moping for your loss isn't going to get you answers."

"Come on, Miss. Magilou." Bienfu appeared between the two girls and asked, "Couldn't you have had a little more tact?"

Magilou defended her action with, "It's better to be straight forward than to give a roundabout answer."

Bienfu began to say, "Even so, I think there's a time and a –"

"It's fine Bienfu." Eleanor spoke up to interrupt the exchange. Bienfu turned to see Eleanor was at ease with Magilou's words.

"Huh?" Magilou and Bienfu were both a little surprised.

Eleanor stated, "I appreciate you sticking up for me Bienfu, but Magilou has a point. I made a promise. I told Velvet that I'd look after Laphicet, and I told Laphicet, I'd spread the word of his existence as the new Empyrion. I've done my best to do both over the past few months … I was never … expecting this to be easy, but when I found out Velvet's birthday was coming soon, I had a hard time figuring out what I should be doing next." Eleanor rubbed her forehead as she said, "My mind went blank. It was like all my thoughts were blown out the window. I went to Aball not just to mourn Velvet, but I was hoping to find some kind of answer, too."

Magilou asked, "Did you find it?"

Eleanor replied, "Maybe … I just need a little more time."

Magilou stated, "Hmph … I suppose that's fair enough, but don't keep me waiting too long. I hate being bored above all else."

Eleanor assured the witch, "Don't worry. You'll know what it is."

"Anyway," Magilou attempted to look away from Eleanor as she said, "I said a bunch of things. You can take things that I say with a grain of salt and quite frankly that would be the intelligent approach. However, this time I promise I'm not spewing any bullshit or anything of that nature. Of course, I'll just leave it up to you to decided whether or not y-"

Eleanor immediately interrupted, "I believe you."

"I assume you probab-" Magilou stopped herself, "Come again?"

Eleanor stated, "I believe you, Magilou. You've been more honest than you've giving yourself credit for."

Magilou reminded Eleanor, "You do recall I didn't say anything about the Dream Aball situation, right?'

Eleanor countered, "You were honest after Velvet asked about whether it was possible to manipulate dreams. You were testing her, right? You wanted to see if she'd figured it out, didn't you?"

"…" Magilou was silent for a moment before replying, "Honestly … You give me far too much credit my dear Exorcist. Although, there's something to that sweet naivety of yours that makes you so enduring."

"Hmph …" Eleanor nodded, "I'll take that as a compliment."

"Heh." Magilou grinned, "You probably should because that's the best you'll get out of me."

Bienfu chastised Magilou, "You really shouldn't be so mean to Madam Eleanor, Miss Magilou. She has a lot more virtues than …"

Magilou waved it off. "Yeah, yeah, but you better not be implying what I think you are." Magilou's glare suddenly became piercing.

"Um …" Bienfu could feel himself freeze up before nervously replying, "No … No of course not. You are #1. First and foremost, Miss Magilou. Honestly."

Magilou grinned as she remarked, "He always does think of the right thing to say doesn't he?"

Eleanor replied in a deadpan tone, "Only when you goad him to."

Magilou shrugged, "He just needs some good coaching."

Eleanor dryly stated, "Not denying it I see."

Magilou shamelessly replied, "Why would I?"

Eleanor sighed, "At least you're honest, I guess. Anyway, putting that aside, I think you like to downplay things or make excuses. You could've left at any time, but you choose to stick around, including when you decided to save us when we were trapped in Innominat's trap."

"…" Magilou wasn't able to think of anything to say.

Eleanor wholeheartedly stated, "You know Magilou I don't care what reason you decided to help me. I don't care if it's because I'm entertainment to you or whatever excuse you come up with. It doesn't change the fact that you're here. Thank you for being here."

"Heh." Magilou shrugged it off. "I suppose if you insist, I'll accept the gratitude since that is the type of person you are."

Eleanor stated, "You're always been a weird person to be friends with, but I'm used to it. I'm glad you're here."

Magilou grinned, "A friend, huh? Interesting."

Eleanor asked in a deadpan tone, "Are you going to give me the whole, 'I didn't know you thought of me as a friend', thing?"

Magilou maintained her grin, "Oh no. On the contrary, I'm sure you feel honored to being friends with a magnificent specimen such as myself. Velvet certainly understood that well."

"Yeah. I'm sure she did." Eleanor replied in a deadpan tone, "After you asked her to proclaim you as her, 'best, best friend.'"

Magilou waved off Eleanor's comment, "Oh, details. Details. They're not that big a deal."

"Seriously?" Eleanor dryly asked.

"Anyway," Magilou stood up as she remarked, "We should make sure we're ready for anything. We should take this time to get rested."

As Magilou attempted to separate herself from Eleanor, Bienfu appeared in front of Eleanor and told her, "Don't be fooled, Madam Eleanor. Miss Magilou is really happy you're her friend."

"Heh." Eleanor chuckled, "I'm not fooled in the slightest."

"Oh?" Bienfu grinned as he replied, "I see. I guess she can't trick you with her cheap talk."

"Bienfu." Magilou called out, "Where are you?"

Bienfu suddenly panicked, "Bieeen. Gotta go." He turned around and started 'flying' toward Magilou's direction as he said, "Coming, Miss Magilou." Bienfu could only hope that his Miss Magilou wasn't going to find an excuse to punish him.

/

As the sun set, a shiver crawled down the former Exorcist and the Witch's spines. They looked toward the ruins. When they looked in that direction, they saw something 'out of the ordinary'. What they saw appeared to be a portal opening.

"That explains a few things." Magilou mused, "We could sense it was there because it has been there, but it was using a portal to cloak itself.

Eleanor said out loud, "This Daemon might be Nocturnal.

Magilou considered, "Maybe it can't be out during the day. That could explain why it came out at night?"

"It doesn't matter. It's time to end this." Eleanor stood out in front and looked toward Magilou, "Are you with me?"

Magilou replied, "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't. This could be interesting."

Eleanor held her weapon and declared, "All right! Let's do this!"

/

Author Notes: The stakeout proved to be successful a lot faster than either the former Exorcist or Witch expected. What will happened next?

Be sure to tune in next time when Eleanor and Magilou face off against the cause of the dreams.